Dick Foran Movies

It's Christmastime, and Officers Jim Reed (Kent McCord) and Pete Malloy (Martin Milner) enter into the spirit of things by playing Santa for the impoverished Ward family--with the curmudgeonly Malloy agreeing to put up half the money for a toy dump truck. But it's back to business as usual when the cops chase after the perpetrators who have stolen the Wards' car. Elsewhere, Jim and Pete break up a domestic quarrel and haul in a driver who has indulged in too much "Yuletide cheer." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A meandering mule and an old prospector find gold and adventure in the Grand Canyon in this family programmer. ~ Kristie Hassen, Rovi

John Ford's last film to deal with World War II, Donovan's Reef is an alternately comical and sentimental look back on the fighting Navy men from that war, and how and where -- in Ford's eyes, and Frank Nugent and James Edward Grant's script -- they should have ended up. Michael "Guns" Donovan (John Wayne), Thomas "Boats" Gilhooley (Lee Marvin), and Dr. William Dedham (Jack Warden), a trio of navy veterans who fought on the Pacific island of Haleakalowa during the war, now live on the island. Donovan and Gilhooley, biding time and enjoying themselves, engage in rough-house hijinks among themselves, and are both part of the doctor's extended family, enjoying the good will of the islanders for whom they fought during the war. While Dedham is away on a call to a neighboring island, his grown daughter, Amelia (Elizabeth Allen), from his first marriage, whom he has never seen, announces that she is arriving from Boston to determine Dedham's fitness of character to inherit the majority shares in the family shipping business. Donovan contrives to present Dedham's three Polynesian children, whom the doctor had with the island's hereditary princess, as his own, and also squires Amelia around the island in her father's absence. In the process, the cold Bostonian woman discovers a whole world -- of passion, joy, heroism, and a life among men and women whose lives have been about something other than making money -- that she's never known. She also understands all of the good that her father has accomplished away from Boston, even though it entailed abandoning her. Sparks and even a few fists fly between Donovan and Amelia (and between Donovan and several other characters), in the usual Ford rough-house manner, before their eventual reconciliation and a romantic clinch at the end, in this sweet, sentimental comedy-drama. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

For those of you who might have wondered whether accordion virtuoso Dick Contino ever made a film, we refer you to The Big Night. Fourth-billed Contino weaves in and out of a plotline involving stolen money, an innocent married couple, and not-so-innocent gangsters. Newlyweds Randy Sparks and Venetia Stevenson find a sack of cash, then stash it away for a rainy day rather than inform the cops. That this is not a smart move is hammered home before the film is half over. You'll have to see The Big Night yourself to find out if Dick Contino gets the opportunity to render "Lady of Spain" on his squeeze-box. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Although his bootlegging operation has been smashed up and his boss Al Capone is in Federal Prison, Frank Nitti (Bruce Gordon) still has plenty of crooked irons in the fire. One his most lucrative enterprises is a Hollywood-based extortion racket, designed to control exhibition prices for theater operators. Hoping to break Nitti once and for all, Elliot Ness (Robert Stack) uses an old warrant against Nitti flunkey Sidney Rogers (Richard Anderson) as the first step in his plan. This final episode of The Untouchables' first season feature the last appearance of Anthony George as "Untouchable" Cam Allison--but if you think that the explosive climax marks the exit of the formidable Frank Nitti, guess again. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Someone has stolen the confidential tapes of conversations between psychiatrist David Craig (Dick Foran) and his patients, and is using those tapes for blackmail. It so happens that Dr. Craig is in love with his nurse Edith (Marianne Stewart), whose brother Mark (Barry McGuire) who is in big trouble with the "mob" and is the primary suspect in the theft of the tapes. When Mark is murdered, Craig is charged, and Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) swings into action. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In the second episode of Walt Disney's eight-part miniseries The Swamp Fox, the Redcoats have retaliated against the raids of Colonel Francis Marion's guerillas by burning down their homes. While Francis (Leslie Nielsen) advises his men to wait before striking back, his own brother Gabriel (Dick Foran) is in no mood to bide his time. Gabriel has vowed vengeance in particular against the pro-Tory Videaux family, even though Mary Videaux (Joy Page) is in love with Francis. What neither Gabriel nor the Redcoats realize is that Mary is secretly working on the guerillas' behalf, spying on the British and reporting their activities to Francis. "Brother Against Brother" was originally telecast as part of the Walt Disney Presents anthology. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Perennial loser Larry Benton (Wynn Pearce) is convinced that he has killed a guy named Mike during a poker-game argument. Actually, Larry is the victim of a blackmail scam, perpetrated by a shady customer named Johnny Clay. After Larry forges his brother Steve's name on a check to Johnny, the blackmailer is murdered, whereupon Steve (Dick Foran) tries to cover for his ne'er-do-well sibling. In his efforts to save Steve from the gas chamber, Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) must prove that the "late" Mike is still alive--if indeed he IS still alive! This episode is based on a short story by Perry Mason creator Erle Stanley Gardner. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this drama, a former Air Force hero becomes frustrated when he is pulled from active duty and is forced to train recruits at Edwards Air Force Base. He finds instructing the young fighter pilots terribly tedious. His frustration is compounded by his fear that one of his handsome bucks will steal his pretty girl friend. This causes him to become an angry, unfair teacher. Later, the reluctant instructor learns an invaluable lesson when he is forced to save one of his best students from certain death. Suddenly he begins taking his job seriously; as a result he becomes a respected and beloved teacher. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Good samaritan Bart Maverick (Jack Kelly) offers assistance to two tired travellers with only one horse. They repay his generosity by stealing his horse--and then framing him for bank robbery and murder. When one of the thieves is killed, the other escapes with a posse hot on heels. . .while Bart cools his own heels in jail, under the watchful eye of Sheriff Edwards (Dick Foran). Clearly, the only way Bart can clear himself is by capturing the remaining outlaw--but how is he going to get past the sheriff? ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Chicago Confidential may not have been the best of the late-1950s "expose" films, but it certainly boasted one of the most impressive casts. Based on the factual best-seller by Jack Lait and Lee Mortimer, the film stars Brian Keith as a State Attorney who vows to bring corrupt Chicago union officials to justice. It turns out that the union crooks are in cahoots with a gambling syndicate, conspiring to frame uncooperative union leader Dick Foran for murder. With the considerable assistance of his coworker-fiancee Beverly Garland, Keith strives to prove Foran's innocence and punish the genuine miscreants. Crucial to the plotline is nightclub comedian Buddy Lewis, cast as an impressionist who helps to frame the troublesome Foran; also in the cast are such crime-flick perennials as Elisha Cook Jr., Paul Langton, Douglas Kennedy, Jack Lambert, John Indrisano, Phyllis Coates, and Thomas B. Henry. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Zachary Scott heads the cast of the heavily plotted western Treasure of Ruby Hills. The son of a notorious outlaw, Haney (Scott) intends to settle down peacefully in Soledad, Arizona. This proves difficult when Haney finds himself in the middle of a violent feud over water rights. The heavy of the piece is ranch foreman Doran (Dick Foran), who plays both sides down the middle in hopes of grabbing control of the water for himself. Carole Mathews co-stars as Sherry, Haney's sweetheart, while Lola Albright steals every scene she's in as the voluptuous May. Treasure of Ruby Hills was lensed by Allied Artists in the same locations later utilized by the studio's "Bowery Boys" opus Dig That Uranium. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi